As was reported in the December 1995 issue of NewsBriefs, the
Advisory Council announced last October that it would begin studying the
prospect of establishing needle exchange programs or legalizing the sale
of syringes in pharmacies ("Needle Exchange Hearings to Be Held in
New Jersey; Whitman Refuses to Consider," NewsBriefs, December
1995, p. 21). The review, part of a larger analysis of AIDS-related
policies in New Jersey, was prompted by a number of reports showing needle
exchange and legalized sale of needles reduce the spread of AIDS and do
not encourage drug use.

The hearings were held at a January 24 meeting of the Council. Dr. Stephen
Jones of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta pointed
out that New Jersey has the highest rate of HIV after New York and Puerto
Rico. About half of those with HIV contracted it through intravenous drug
use, he said.

The panel also heard testimony from Beth Weinstein of the Connecticut
Department of Health about how needle exchange and legalized sale of needles
through pharmacies appear to be helping curb the spread of HIV in that state.
Another witness, Rev. Elijah Williams of Newark's Welcome Baptist Church,
called needle exchange "immoral," adding that if the policies
are enacted addicts are "going to die just a little bit slower than
they're dying now."

The Council decided to appoint an ad hoc committee to further examine
the issues and report to the Council at its March meeting. The Council's
decision on the proposal will be part of a larger annual report sent to
the Governor.

After the hearing, Whitman's Health Commissioner Len Fishman said the
governor believes needle exchange is a "tacit endorsement for drug
use." Fishman said Whitman does favor expanding drug treatment resources.
"As important as needle exchange and syringe sales may be to some people,
it's not the only weapon we have," he said.

Whitman reiterated her views on syringe exchange and non-prescription
sales in a January letter to the Council and during a February 20 speech
to the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Eric E. Sterling, editor-in-chief
of NewsBriefs and president of The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation,
passed her a question about needle exchange:

Fifty-six percent of the HIV/AIDS cases in New Jersey are injection-related --
the highest in the nation. And almost all children born HIV positive are
children of drug addicts who got HIV from used syringes. Almost all public
health studies show sterile syringe exchanges are effective in reducing
the spread of AIDS and don't result in increased drug usage. This is a
good public health practice, like seat belts or lifeguards along the Jersey
shore. Finally the question: Why have you directed state public health
officials to block sterile syringe exchanges?

"Well, frankly, I take great objection to making an analogy between
government sanctioning drug use, which is illegal, by providing needles
and lifeguards at the shore," she answered. "The two things are
not comparable." Whitman continued:

We outlaw as a society drug use because of what it does to people. I
have been in those neonatal care units. I have seen babies withdrawing
from crack and other drug addictions. I have seen what happens to their
ability to interact with people as they grow older, and I've seen the impact
it has. I have also been to our prisons, where fully 67 to 70 percent
of those incarcerated are there because of some kind of drug-related problem,
whether they were high when they did the crime, or they were committing
a crime in order to support a drug habit. It simply is not acceptable in
our society, and I feel as badly for the people who lost their lives or
have been injured because of crime committed by someone who was on drugs --
as the parents of a young man who just got out of a drug treatment center,
went into the bathroom and shot himself up, and had an overdose and died.
There are bad things that happen when you use intravenous drug use, and
I cannot bring myself to sanction that by having government give out clean
needles.

There are other ways to combat AIDS. One of the things that we are very
active on is educating mothers on the fact that if they will allow us to
do an HIV test on them, that if we start giving them AZT for six weeks
prior to delivery -- actually through term, as soon as we can find
out that they are HIV positive, and to treat the baby for six weeks after --
we dramatically reduce the case of AIDS -- the number of AIDS in those
babies or HIV positive babies. There are ways of combatting AIDS, and I
just cannot bring myself to say that the government should be part of supplying
needles for an illegal activity. (Applause.)